The New Year Quote by Marsha Blackburn

Blackburn’s move here is to weld a complicated, ongoing set of Middle East conflicts to America’s cleanest moral memory: Pearl Harbor. The question isn’t really a question; it’s a trap. By asking whether we can “even imagine” Roosevelt negotiating, she pre-bakes the answer (“Of course it is unimaginable”) and makes any alternative to military action feel not merely wrong, but historically illiterate and emotionally indecent.

The subtext is discipline. “Negotiate a resolution” is framed as softness, even appeasement, while “simply prosecute those involved” is cast as naive faith in law enforcement. That “simply” does heavy lifting, shrinking legal accountability into something unserious for a world-historical crisis. In one stroke, she delegitimizes diplomatic and judicial tools without arguing their merits; she argues their vibes.

Context matters because Pearl Harbor is a singular event with a clear attacker, while “the Middle East” is an elastic label that can include wars, counterterror operations, intelligence campaigns, and nation-building failures. The rhetorical trick is to borrow Pearl Harbor’s clarity and paste it onto ambiguity. “We are right” is not evidence; it’s a loyalty test. The line doesn’t invite debate over strategy, costs, or end goals. It asks for a posture: treat this as “the war it is,” with all the permission structure that word provides - urgency, unity, and the suspension of second-guessing.